The Sandinista government has received...

SOVIET HELICOPTERS.

July 19, 1986

MANAGUA, NICARAGUA — SOVIET HELICOPTERS. The Sandinista government has received military helicopters from the Soviet Union and now has a direct phone line to Moscow via satellite. Capt. Ricardo Wheelock, the army intelligence chief, confirmed press reports about the choppers but gave no numbers. The New York Times reported the Soviets sent 15 capable of carrying up to 32 people each and up to 10 more are expected. The communications link is a $1.5 million Earth station for the Intersputnik satellite system. President Daniel Ortega phoned his ambassador in the Soviet capital to inaugurate it. He said the government had exercised ''the right of the Nicaraguan people to have communications with the entire world.''